Tattoos have been linked for the first time to a deadly type of blood cancer.
Researchers at Lund University in Sweden found that tattooed people had a 21 percent higher risk of lymphoma, compared to people without tattoos.
Lymphoma is a type of cancer that affects white blood cells, which are crucial for fighting infections.
The link is believed to lie in carcinogenic chemicals contained in tattoo ink. When injected into the skin, it is interpreted as something foreign and the immune system is activated, causing mild inflammation in the body that can trigger cancer.
About 46 percent of Americans ages 30 to 49 have at least one tattoowhile 22 percent of all ages, on average, have more than one.
American rapper and singer-songwriter Machine Gun Kelly, 34, has more than 90 designs tattooed on his body. She recently got a spectacular tattoo that covers almost every inch of skin on his upper body, except his face.
Post Malone, 28, (pictured) has more than 70 tattoos, including at least 14 on his face, according to Business Insider.
About 15 percent of Americans who don’t have a tattoo said they are somewhat or extremely likely to get one, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center found.
Researchers identified people with lymphoma between the ages of 20 and 60 using population registries and then matched them with a control group of the same sex and age, but without a diagnosis of lymphoma.
Participants were then given a lifestyle factors questionnaire to see if they were tattooed or not.
About 1,400 people with lymphoma responded to the questionnaire, as well as 4,193 people in the control group.
In the lymphoma group, 21 percent (289 people) were tattooed, while in the control group 18 percent (735 people) were tattooed.
“After taking into account other relevant factors, such as smoking and age, we found that the risk of developing lymphoma was 21 percent higher among those who were tattooed,” said Christel Nielsen, a researcher at Lund University who led the study. study.
Researchers had theorized that tattoo size could affect the risk of lymphoma and thought that a full-body tattoo could be linked to a higher chance of cancer.
However, the results showed that the amount of body surface area tattooed did not matter.
The researchers wrote in the journal. eMedicineClinical that they I’m not sure why it was like that.
Rapper Cardi B showed off her elaborate, shiny thigh tattoos as she posed in a white bra.
‘One can only speculate that a tattoo, regardless of size, causes mild inflammation in the body, which in turn can lead to cancer. Therefore, the picture is more complex than we initially thought,” Nielsen said.
Next, researchers plan to study whether there is any link between tattoos and other types of cancer.
There are several types of lymphoma, but two main types: non-Hodgkin and Hodgkin.
Hodgkin lymphoma is a type of cancer that starts in the white blood cells. It is named after Thomas Hodgkin, an English doctor who first identified the disease in 1832.
It affects around 2,000 people each year in the United Kingdom and 8,500 a year in the United States.
The five-year survival rate for the disease is 89 percent.
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma affects around 8,600 people annually in the US and 14,000 new people each year in the UK.
In the case of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the cancer has a survival rate of about 83 percent if it is limited to a single region.
Lymphoma occurs when white blood cells in the lymphatic system mutate into fast-growing cancer cells that do not die.
The mutated cells often accumulate in the lymph nodes (glands that filter waste products in the neck, groin, abdomen, and armpits) forming cancerous masses.
Like most cancers, most genetic mutations occur on their own, without an identifiable cause.
But research has suggested that having viruses such as HIV, a weak immune system or an autoimmune disease may increase the risk.
